Best Off Road Gen 3? Help me decide my next purchase.

[p nut]

Great info Thai.

I am now focusing on a J80 but watching for the LX450. As stated above I have a Lexus GS400 and to add another Lexus would be nice. The other thing I am noticing about the J80 when comparing the LC and LX, is the LX seem to be the most well kept. It kind of makes sense as many Lexus buyers tend to have a few more $$'s and seem to maintain their cars at Lexus. (my GS is proof of that ). Lexus will for free provide you with all of the maintainence records they have on record which is nice option over the LC. Also I am thinking LX owners were not wheeling their rigs as much as a LC owner.

As for the lockers, that is a must only because I know if I ever sell that is such a huge option for off roaders. And to be honest a few years down the road more are going to by the J80 for off roading then a daily driver. All of the trucks I have been looking at on line, the first thing I look for are the pics of the steering wheel to see if that "magic knob" is sitting there on the left. It is the same technique I am using for the 4runner, looking for that orange labled switch in that same area. What is pretty interesting is some who dont have the "knob" IMO snap pictures of the interior and go out of their way not to show that part of the interior. It makes phone discussions interesting as you dont want to mention you know what that is as many dealers dont know that is a important feature and I dont want then to be too informed.

Good thinking on the Lexus being better kept, generally speaking. If you can find one from the original owner, and lockers, pick it up ASAP.

The Jeep is a nice off road option and they can be bought cheap, but I want something with a little nicer ride. And if I ever have to take anyone out in it (my 2 little ones, friends, etc) the jeep is a little rough around the edges for me (no offense to any Jeep people here. I rented one in the Outerbanks, NC and it was great on the beach but not so great on the road).

The search continues. Wish it was spring because I keep reading, buy my J80/4Runner with Winter driving approaching! Now is the time to by a convertible not a 4x4!!!

Yeah, Jeeps are nice (had one), but they are not comfortable at all. Your wife will hate it, I guarantee it. They are SMALL, too. Which is good for off-roading, but stinks if you're going to be doing any kind of expedition travels with a lot of cargo.

 

[cobra2top]

Originally posted by p nut

Good thinking on the Lexus being better kept, generally speaking. If you can find one from the original owner, and lockers, pick it up ASAP.


That will be the toughest part of the search. Many Lexus's were leased, especially a few years back when leasing was very popular on $50K+ vehicles. A friend works for Lexus said original owners are out there but hard to find. He said, which I agree, is that you also have those that paid cash for them, drove them for a year or 2 and headed back to the dealer to drop cash on the newest Lexus. With the J80 a 2 year run, once the 100's showed up I bet many Lexus owners dropped the $ for the newest better riding 100.

 

[p nut]

96 LX450 with lockers

 

[cobra2top]

Great find!

I have been looking with in 500 miles from NJ and not too much in the $5-6k range although there is one on sleebay in Philly ending soon. I see though they also have it on craigs asking $9k so I don't think it will hit the reserve. I will need to expand my search. The bonus is I don't mind flying and driving. I did it before and it was a a cool adventure driving back a new to me car.

The rig in Philly has the lockers and 100k. I like the miles but now wondering if it is better to get a 150k rig with the "next level" of maintainance done. I assume I will be replacing alot of original parts on a 100k rig. Your thoughts on buying a lower mile higher priced rig or go with the higher miler since it really will not be a daily driver and potentially have newer wear parts.

 

[p nut]

Great find!

I have been looking with in 500 miles from NJ and not too much in the $5-6k range although there is one on sleebay in Philly ending soon. I see though they also have it on craigs asking $9k so I don't think it will hit the reserve. I will need to expand my search. The bonus is I don't mind flying and driving. I did it before and it was a a cool adventure driving back a new to me car.

The rig in Philly has the lockers and 100k. I like the miles but now wondering if it is better to get a 150k rig with the "next level" of maintainance done. I assume I will be replacing alot of original parts on a 100k rig. Your thoughts on buying a lower mile higher priced rig or go with the higher miler since it really will not be a daily driver and potentially have newer wear parts.

Of course that depends on the previous owner and what kind of maintenance he has done, but I think you're on the right track. If all the maintenance is up-to-date, I'd much rather go with a 150k rig.

Also, it's not really your car until you've done a road trip in it! Expand your search and drive her back!

 

[KellyJ]

http://www.cars.com/go/search/detai...CE+descending&certifiedOnly=false&criteria=K-|E-|M-_27_|D-_262_|N-N|R-500|I-1%2c7|P-PRICE+descending|Q-descending|Z-22101&aff=national&paId=277181818&recnum=9&leadExists=true

Hopefully this link will work - I believe I see the locker knob hiding behind the turn signal stalk

http://www.cars.com/go/search/detai...CE+descending&certifiedOnly=false&criteria=K-|E-|M-_27_|D-_262_|N-N|R-500|I-1%2c7|P-PRICE+descending|Q-descending|Z-22101&aff=national&paId=296129910&recnum=10&leadExists=true

There's another, and it looks in pretty darn good condition


EDIT:

The links don't work, I dunno why cars.com has those ridiculous URL's... but anyways if you go to cars.com and type in the 22101 zip code, search LX450, no price limit, and 500 mile radius, you'll see at least three with lockers. I got about 17 matches when I searched that criteria

 

[cobra2top]

Well I finally drove a LX450 today. I have to say I like the additional room, especially the width.

The LX had 145K and was just traded into a dealer and was not detailed. The thing was trashed inside. How someone can do that is beyond me, especially since they were trading it in. The dealer really did not want to show it to me but kept saying it will clean up nice. I am glad I saw it in that condition because I know I dont want it. If the previous owner could not keep it clean, what are the odds they kept up on maintainence?

But the good news is even with it's questionable past, it drove great. Not a rattle and I was looking for potholes. I was very impressed.

I want to thank everyone that responded to my messages on this. I truly never even thought of the J80 as a option and this site has pointed me in that direction.

The 4runner is a great rig, but for my needs it looks like a LX will be in the garage. Now I just need to find that right one, clean, low miles and of course locked!!